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ORANGE COUNTY <br />BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br />Meeting Date: October 4, 2011 <br />Action Agenda <br />Item No. 5- K <br />SUBJECT: Emergency Services Station Location Selection Authorization <br />DEPARTMENT: Emergency Services <br />PUBLIC HEARING: (YIN) No <br />ATTACHMENT(S): <br />INFORMATION CONTACT: <br />Frank Clifton, County Manager <br />245-2300 <br />John Roberts, County Attorney <br />245-2318 <br />PURPOSE: To authorize the County Manager to select and negotiate the location of <br />Emergency Services substations. <br />BACKGROUND: Since 2005 Emergency Services has served 400 square miles from two <br />locations -Carrboro and Hillsborough. This contributes to poor response times, extra travel, <br />wear and tear on vehicles and personnel fatigue. Limited station locations also contribute to <br />extended scene times for fire suppression units and crews.. Stations are cramped and are not <br />conducive to a comfortable or efficient working environment. Further, the Carrboro station does <br />not provide sufficient parking or storage space. Crews practiced changing out units at the <br />department's former base (1914 New Hope Church Road) because of limited or no parking <br />space, causing further service delivery delays, additional mileage costs and equipment wear. <br />Emergency Services has provided several reports to the Board and to the County Manager on <br />moving units into more strategic positions throughout the County to improve response times. <br />Emergency Services has been researching low cost ways to use either County facilities or other <br />already established facilities to house emergency response units. <br />In 2009, in an agreement with the inactive Efland Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Efland <br />Volunteer Fire Department, Emergency Services (ES) relocated a unit to Efland to improve <br />response time in the northwestern portion of the County and provide backup to the Hillsborough <br />area. In 2010, a unit was relocated to the former Animal Services Building on Revere Road to <br />cover Hillsborough and the surrounding area. <br />In 2009, Emergency Services and UNC also began discussing situations involving inebriated <br />students that led to a more general discussion about EMS services on campus. UNC indicated <br />to Emergency Services that it was willing to provide a substation with parking for an ambulance <br />on campus in the married student housing section for the campus. <br />On September 20, 2011 the Board approved the location of a substation on the UNC campus <br />and authorized the County Manager to sign an agreement reflecting such. The Board directed <br />